SEC, German BaFin Sign Regulatory Cooperation Arrangement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-76

Washington, D.C., April 26, 2007 - The Securities and Exchange Commission and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, or BaFin) today signed a comprehensive arrangement to facilitate their supervision of internationally active firms and their oversight of markets.

At a meeting in Berlin, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and BaFin President Jochen Sanio executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that provides clear mechanisms for consultation, cooperation, and exchanges of information between their agencies. The MOU sets forth the terms and conditions for the sharing of information about regulated entities and financial groups that operate in the United States and Germany and, in view of the growing trend toward cross-border exchange affiliations, outlines a framework for cooperation in the oversight of markets in both countries.

Chairman Cox said, "The SEC and BaFin share a commitment to keeping our markets open, fair and transparent in an ever-changing and increasingly global marketplace. We must continue working together to facilitate the seamless and efficient regulation of internationally active firms in the United States and Germany. This arrangement helps the SEC and BaFin have access to the information necessary to supervise global securities firms and oversee markets."

President Sanio said, "There is already a tradition of cooperation between the SEC and BaFin. By signing this MOU we are now giving it an even wider framework. In times of increasing globalization, such agreements are very valuable - for the regulators of both countries and for the companies involved."

Ethiopis Tafara, Director of the SEC's Office of International Affairs, said, "This MOU builds on the SEC's recent efforts to formalize information-sharing arrangements for regulatory cooperation with our counterparts, as the Commission historically has done in the area of securities enforcement. Such arrangements infuse predictability and efficiency into our international cooperative efforts, and help ensure that global firms are being looked at in a coordinated fashion. The SEC and BaFin have had a long-standing cooperative relationship, and we are pleased to enhance that relationship here today."